Michael Slater worried about Australian side ahead of the Ashes

Michael Slater, the former Aussie opener, is worried about the current Test side of Australia which will face the resurgent England in Ashes. The prestigious series is all set to get started in November this year. Slater feels the team is over-reliant on the opener David Warner and the skipper Steve Smith in the longest format of the game.

Australia has been blowing hot and cold in Tests this year. They won famously in Pune in the first of the four Tests on their tour to India but lost two out of next three matches and gave away the series 2-1. They were also beaten by Bangladesh in the two-match Test series but the Men in Yellow came back stunningly to level the series. But the performances of the players have been so inconsistent barring Warner and Smith.

Matthew Wade has to score runs

Michael Slater feels that the team’s over-reliance on the top order and the lacklustre performances from the middle order could cause them serious problems during the Ashes. “I’m worried about our side – it still relies on Warner, Smith. (Peter) Handscomb is at five, (Glenn) Maxwell’s got to shine. There’s a lot of interest there. (Matthew) Wade as ‘keeper, he’s got to start scoring runs,” Slater said according to media reports.

However, the former skipper Maxwell at 5 and said that he needs to be given time to settle down at his position. “They’ve got to stick with (Maxwell) because it takes some time. Not every player comes in and performs the first Test. He’s played a handful (of Tests) now, (the selectors) have got to go with him and certainly for the first Test in the Ashes,” he added.

England would have pointed out this weakness of the Aussies by now and will definitely target Warner and Smith to expose the inexperienced middle-order. But it won’t be easy for them as the latter is currently on top of the ICC Test rankings while the former is fifth in the list.